It's hard to envision a better day than what the Browns put together on Sunday afternoon as they shut down the Arizona Cardinals, 27-0.
Rookie debutant Clayton Tune had a brutal day as the Cardinals offense was constantly harassed by the Browns. Cleveland held Arizona to 1-of-12 on third down tries and the Cardinals totaled just 58 total yards (and 17 passing yards). In fact, after their first three plays from scrimmage, they ran 45 plays that mustered just 35 yards.
Complete domination.
Here are the best things I heard from the Browns after their outstanding victory.
Myles Garrett
On how gratifying it was to have such a dominant defensive performance
“It feels great. Haven’t had a shutout in a while, just like you said, and it was a perfect opportunity. Bounce back game. We haven’t been playing up to the standard that we’ve set on defense and we took the challenge that (Jim) Schwartz set for us, and we played with our hair on fire. Guys really responded and happy they did to the level in which they did.”
Deshaun Watson
On how impressed he was by the Browns' defense
“Heck of a job. Just to get a goose egg in the NFL is tough to I mean, they did a great job, played complimentary football, special teams, did a good job of flipping the field, playing field position, and it was a complete game. Of course, we left a lot on the field, but it was good to be able to get this W.”
On how good he thinks the Browns can be this year
“There’s no ceiling, sky’s wide open. So, we’re going to go as far as we want to take us and we got to just keep stacking with it days, keep stacking these wins and focus on that. We don’t put a ceiling on ourselves, we don’t pick any limitations. So, like I said, we focus on what’s in Berea in that facility and we go from there, from that locker room.”
Jordan Elliott
On what kind of statement he hopes the defense made on Sunday
“I think it is a game that kind of brought us back to our roots as a unit. It reestablished our identity. These last two weeks it was leaky. It was not the first five, I think that this game was kind of a statement for us.”
Shelby Harris
On how cool it was to be a part of the Browns first shutout since 2007
“It is always cool to be a part of a shutout, because you know how big they are. They don’t happen very often. I think in my career I have only been a part of one or two in ten years. It is something to pat yourself on the back for. But tomorrow we are right back in the office. That is the thing about this league, you have to forget stuff quickly. You cannot get too high on one performance, because that is how you get smacked in the mouth the next week.”
Dalvin Tomlinson
On what impact the defense had with seven sacks today
“It says a lot. We haven’t played to our standard the last couple of weeks and I felt like this defense, we came out here today with something to prove. We wanted to get back in the stride of things and the stepping stones of where we want to go.”
Denzel Ward
On M.J. Emerson not having a single pass thrown to a receiver he covered all game
“MJ has been locking down, so they are probably starting to throw away from him. Hopefully, they throw more to my side. I’ll be cool with that, throw more to my side and I’ll make some plays [laughter].”
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